Fallen From Grace
by AprilDawson
Summary: 68th Hunger Games. Emily Horwitz is reaped in the Games with her childhood friend who may or may not have plans of his own when they reach the arena. After a horrifying turn of events, Emily must live with the nightmares and hauntings of her sins in the Games as well as the loss of the one most important to her as a victor of the 68th Games.
1. Chapter 1: District Eight Reaping

**CHAPTER 1: District 8 Reaping**

Something feels off . . . she couldn't quite understand what it is but she felt as if something was going to go wrong today . . .

Reaping Day . . . the most dreaded day of the year. A pageant that throws in tributes in a large arena to fight to the death for fame and glory. At least, for the Career districts it was for fame and glory. For outside districts like District 8 say it as the worst month of the year to sacrifice their children.

Emily took in deep breaths as she nervously looked around her classmates and coworkers. They shared the exact look her wide green eyes . . . fear . . . anxiety . . . nausea . . . some even appeared numb to the core. The redhead swallowed the lump caught in her throat and looked up at the Justice Building in front of her when the muffled tap from the microphone broke through the quite murmurs of potential tributes.

The burgundy haired District Eight escort had a giant grin from ear to ear as he stared at the timid children gathered before him in that all too bleak district that was in desperate need of color. "Hellooooo everybody!" he waved. "I'm very excited for this year, I can just tell it's going to be a good year," he said and tapped his hands against the podium in some rhythm everyone but him was unfamiliar with.

Emily looked around the boy's eighteen-year-old section for Liam's familiar voice. His expression was as hard as a rock and she could see he was biting down to keep himself from appearing weak, something he often did when he was scared. After all, it was his last year to be reaped and he was home free. But that wasn't the only thing he was scared about. He reminded Emily time and time again that he was also scared that she would be reaped too. They've been best friends for year, of course he didn't want to lose his one friend.

Liam's blue eyes finally pried away from the Dark Days video and glanced over at Emily. She couldn't help but feel utter relief when his eyes fell on her, Liam was her rock and Emily was his anchor to reality. It was ridiculous how relaxed they felt whenever they were around each other . . .

"And now, for the ladies," the escort broke their attention and turned back to the worst part of the reaping. He walked toward the girls' bowl and shoved his silver manicured hand in and quickly picked a small piece of paper. Emily took in a deep breath as she watched the man walk back to the microphone. She swore that it took an hour for him to the microphone, maybe it was the fear and anxiety that slowed down time for her. Maybe he did it on purpose to intensify the atmosphere . . .

The man read the name when he opened his mouth and announced: "Emily Horwitz!"

And then the whole world shattered into a million pieces . . .

Her heart beat rapidly against her chest, her breathing became shallow and short, she felt utterly dizzy and was just seconds away from losing her footing, and she felt like she was about to empty her stomach. _No . . . no, it's a mistake . . . I must have heard wrong . . ._

"Emily? Are you out there?"

Emily blinked a couple times and whipped her head around toward Liam and found that he had completely abandoned the hard as a rock expression and was replaced with a look of devastation instead. _No . . . no, don't look at me like that . . . it can't be . . .—_

"Emily Horwitz?" he called again. The redhead cringed and slowly turned back toward the escort. Everyone was looking at her and breaking a path for her. "There you are," he began with a relieved sigh.

She looked around at everyone around her as she took small steps toward the stage and clasped her hands together to keep her from scratching herself nervously. Lost cause, already dead, no way she would last the first day . . . those were the looks she could see on everyone's face. Her feet dragged against the ground the closer she came to the stairs, and the closer she got the dizzier she became.

Oh no . . . she wasn't going to make it . . .

Emily was just at the top of the stairs when she completely blacked out and collapsed.

"Em . . . Em . . . we don't have much time . . ."

She slowly opened her eyes and her eyes adjusted to her friends, Cece and Harmony staring down at her. "Please tell me that was a terrible nightmare . . ." she muttered.

Her eyes went to Harmony when she saw how red and puffy her eyes were, she then began to sob and hugged Emily close to her. "Why does it have to be you . . .?" she cried.

Exactly . . . Why did it have to be her . . .?

"I'm going to die . . ." she said quietly. "Oh my god, I'm going to die . . ." the redhead's voice cracked and hugged Harmony back. Her body trembled in Harmony's arms as she embraced her tightly in hopes that she would never have to go to the Capitol or the arena.

"You'll be okay . . . you'll be okay . . ." Cece mumbled and placed her head on Emily's shoulder.

Emily shook her head at her. "Who are we kidding? I'm least likely to survive the bloodbath when the Games start."

"No, no Em. You're fast. You're strong—"

"But I don't know how to handle a weapon—"

"Then learn!" Harmony exclaimed and looked up at her. "They're going to train you. Find a weapon that'll help you. And when the Games start, find one and use it!" she shook Emily.

Emily could only nod and hugged Harmony and Cece. "Thank you for everything guys . . ." Emily said quietly.

Harmony nodded and pat her head. "You'll be okay . . .," she sniffled. "Don't say goodbye. We'll see you after you win . . ." she choked as her body shivered.

_No you won't . . ._ Emily thought to herself and broke into tears. Harmony kept on crying and Cece tried to hold it in together with difficulty. The Peacekeepers took both her friends away and Emily was alone again. She cried silently during her time alone while her district partner said his goodbyes to his friends and/or family. Once the time was over, the Peacekeepers came to fetch her and Emily sluggishly walked out of her space and out into the main room.

When she looked up to see her district partner, her puffy eyes widened at the sight of Liam with a grim and depressed look in his eyes.

"Emily—"

"You were reaped!?" she shrieked. Liam then looked away from her and ran his hand through his hair. Emily kept her eyes on him as they both walked out toward the car when she came up close to him and saw that he was completely avoiding eye contact with her. "Oh my god . . . Liam . . . you didn't . . ."

He blinked a couple times and looked down at her.

"You didn't volunteer did you . . .?"

"What was I suppose to do, Emily?" she muttered. "I couldn't just sit there and let someone else go in there with you . . ."

"You're so stupid . . ." she shook her head and slipped in the car. What was he thinking!? Volunteering himself in the Games with her!? They both couldn't come out together, he knew that! He had this year and he was done, why would he make this dumb decision!? Emily looked back at him and narrowed her eyes at him while he kept his eyes away from her. "You could have gone home . . ."

"It's not home if I come back there without you . . .?" he said. "I can't sit still when my best friend is forced in the Games . . ." Emily pursed her lips, shook her head, and looked away from him and out the window.

Stupid . . .


	2. Chapter 2: How They Met

**CHAPTER 2: How They Met**

Stupid . . .

Stupid . . .

What was he thinking!? Volunteering in the Games when only one of them could come out alive!? What was he thinking!?

When Emily and Liam arrived to the train station, Emily didn't hesitate and holed herself in an empty bedroom and curled up in a ball on the bed as the train began to move to the next district. "Em . . ." Liam called from behind the door and gentle knocked on the door. "Emily . . ."

But the redhead ignored him and his gentle pleads for her to come out and talk to him. The door wasn't even locked, it didn't have a lock. Liam could honestly come inside and comfort her if he wanted to, but that was his nature. He gave Emily the space to think and calm down before joining her when he felt it was the right time to go inside. He also learned that Emily wouldn't communicate with him when she was consumed with negative emotions, and pushing her only resulted in tears and screaming . . .

Emily looked out the window and thought about the circumstance she was in . . . the terrible turn of events when she saw Liam in the Justice Hall with her as her district mate. Didn't he realize how important he was to her? He was the one person she completely trusted . . . the ONLY person she trusted . . .

The redhead closed her eyes and laid her head back against the wall when she thought about when she met Liam and his brothers . . .

_Emily had been having some issues with bullies her age making fun of her for making an ugly little stitch she just learned the day before. "Wow, that's so ugly!" one exclaimed._

"Geez, can you GO any slower?"

"At this pace the Peacekeepers will kill you for dragging us down," another laughed.

Emily swallowed a lump that swelled in her throat at the idea of being killed because she wasn't good enough to do a simple little stitch. Her green eyes fleeted over to some Peacekeepers walking down her row to check how everyone was working and dropped her eyes immediately to the little cloth in her hands and continued with her work. Her small hands trembled violently as she pulled the needle and stabbed through the cloth again, only to stab her finger yet again. The little girl choked a cry and sucked on her finger to get the rest of the blood off before she quickly went back to work before the man in white walked past her.

Could he see how much she was trembling? How much the boys around her harassed her and snickered at her fear?

The bell rang and echoed in the factory, making Emily jump and the boys chuckle louder at her skittish behavior. She excused herself from her work area and walked away from the boys toward the exit of the grey factory. Time to go home . . .

The red haired girl bundled herself in her moth eaten coat and wrapped a scarf around around her neck while she exited work with the rest of the factory. She broke through the sea of people toward home when looked back and felt her blood go cold when the boys came into view and eyed her.

Oh come on . . . not now, she was too tired to even deal with them . . .

She picked up the pace a little more. And so did they. Great. Emily whipped her head around and began to run away as fast as her little legs could manage. She heard three pairs of feet chase after her seconds later. Her heart thudded against her chest, heat consumed her body the longer she ran, and her lungs burned. But the pain her body felt was nothing compared to the fear of what the boys had in plan for her.

What did they want? Why did they always pick on her? What did she do to deserve that kind of torment from them? She just wanted to go home and be safe in her room.

Her mind buzzed with ways to escape that she paid no attention to where she was going. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight. It was getting so dark that any dark corner of District Eight was better than any well lit area where the could see her easy. Her red hair was already a giveaway of her whereabouts.

She needed to disappear . . .

Emily turned another corner, then quickly whipped around another and hid behind a smelly pile of garbage and crouched down behind it. She covered her mouth with her scarf and forced herself to take in small and quite breaths even when her lungs burned and screamed for air. The redhead heard the three pairs of feet scuffle around the corner and run past her in search of their victim and ran far far away from where she hid.

The little girl stayed where she was and counted to one twenty to make sure they were long gone before she crawled from her hiding place and timidly looked around the unfamiliar parts of District Eight.

Where was she . . . this place didn't look familiar . . . oh no . . . she was lost . . .

Emily swallowed the lump swelling up in her throat and sniffled her tears away before she began to walk aimlessly for something familiar to find her way home with. It was getting darker and soon enough the Peacekeepers would be out looking for anyone out past curfew. And once they find her she was as good as dead. Emily pursed her lips and wiped away tears that threatened to escape and kept walking down the streets, avoiding the streetlamps as much as possible and stayed in the shadows from the views of anyone outside.

The clicking of boots reached her ears and Emily stopped in her place and slinked into a dark corner out of the streets and curled into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible and as invisible as possible. She took in one big breath and held it when large men in white walk right past her and took not notice of her. Emily shivered when they disappeared behind the corner and hot tears ran down her chubby cheeks.

She wanted to go home . . .

"Shouldn't you two be at home?" someone asked and Emily gasped and froze in place.

"We're almost there, sir . . ." someone answered. "Getting out of the factory takes longer than you think . . ."

"Watch your tongue boy . . ." one of the Peacekeepers barked. "Get back home already, you know what'll happen if you're out past curfew."

"Yes . . ." the boy said and began walking again.

Emily sighed in relief that the Peacekeepers were talking to someone else, but that relief ended up with her in tears and pressed her forehead against her knees and quietly weep. She was going to die all because a bunch of mean boys wanted to bully her . . . it wasn't fair . . .

"Hey . . ." someone whispered. The little redhead gasped and looked up at two boys staring at her, one boy looked about thirteen while the other one looked around eight. Both had dark hair, the older brother with grey eyes while the younger brother had blue eyes. "What's wrong? Where are your parents?" the older one asked.

Emily blinked a couple times and quickly wiped her tears away, hoping that they didn't see her crying. Even hearing her crying was bad. "I don't know where I am . . ." she answered.

"You're lost?"

She nodded.

The older brother looked back where they ran into the Peacekeepers while the younger brother kept his intense gaze on Emily, looking at her with a suspicious look in his blue eyes and a sense of dislike toward her when the big brother turned back to her. "How about you come along with us. We'll find your way back tomorrow morning when we're allowed to come out. Promise we don't hurt you."

The little brother rolled his eyes and Emily watched the big brother carefully. "Is . . . is that okay . . .?" she asked.

"Yeah. We'll have to hurry though. We shouldn't be out here much longer and we're just around the corner."

Emily hesitated for a couple seconds and slowly stood up and came a little closer to them. It was better than being killed for being out after hours. When she got closer the boys began walking again and she followed just behind them toward their home. The little six-year-old followed the two strangers to their homes and timidly entered their living space whilst their mother gave them a confused look. "Constantine? Liam? Who's this?" their mother asked.

Emily dropped her eyes away from their mother's gaze and looked down at her feet meekly. "She got lost and we found her on our way back home. We couldn't leave her out there with Peacekeepers wandering around . . ." the older brother answered. "I'll help her find her way back tomorrow morning when we're allowed, okay?"

Their mother sighed and looked back at the red haired girl in their home and looked back at Constantine. "You two go prepare her a place to sleep then." Emily looked up at her when the boys wandered around gathering things for her to use during her stay in their homes. "I'm Serenity Aldair," the woman introduced herself. "The oldest one is Constantine," she began and pointed to the taller boy with the grey eyes and then pointed to the younger boy, "That's Liam. Their youngest brother is sick in bed, he's Scottie and my husband should be here any moment. His name is Braxton, but he much prefers being called "Mr. Aldair" when you talk to him."

"Ummm . . ." Emily began and twiddled her fingers awkwardly. "Thank you . . . Mrs. Aldair . . ."

The woman lightly smiled and looked toward the boys as they came back with a pillow and the cleanest sheet they had. "What's your name, dear?" Mrs. Aldair asked.

"I'm . . . Emily Horwitz . . ." she answered.

"Oh, that's why you look familiar. I must have seen your mother around some time ago. Red hair? You look a lot like her?"

Emily nodded.

"It's not often you see a lot of redheads in this district. Both of you are practically Capitol red—" They then heard the sheets swat open and spread over the couch, Liam looking annoyed at the mere mention of the Capitol or their weird citizens. Mrs. Aldair narrowed her eyes at her son and looked down at Emily. "How about you get some sleep. One of us will take you back in the morning."

The little girl nodded and walked over to the couch and slowed down when she got closer to the Liam boy. His blue eyes immediately went to her and stared at her with the same suspicious glint in his eyes like he didn't trust her. Or didn't like her at all. Emily shrugged her shoulder like a shield and nodded to him and Constantine. "Thank you . . ." was all she could get out of herself when Liam retreated away to his room.

"Don't mind him, he doesn't like a lot of people," Constantine said casually.

"Oh . . ."

"Don't take it to heart. It's totally normal," he added. "See you in the morning, Emily," the boy nodded to her.

Emily nodded back and the boy disappeared to his shared room with his brothers with his mother just behind him and blew the lantern flame out.

Then everything went dark—

"Emily . . .?"

The redhead's trance was broken and she was back in her room on the train toward the Capitol. She let out a depressed sigh and hugged her knees together when she looked toward the door. "Come in . . ." she finally answered.

Liam slid the door opened and stared down at her ball figure. Whenever Liam stared at her with those blue eyes, Emily couldn't help but feel like that six-year-old girl in her dark corner that he and his older brother found ten years ago. The man slipped into her room, Emily scooted over to give him room, and he slid beside her as he took her hand. She could tell he wanted to say something to her, but there was nothing for him to say. He couldn't apologize for volunteering when he had a reason to, he couldn't say everything would be better in the end, there was nothing to say that would make the situation any better . . .

"I was thinking about how we met . . ." Emily said to break the silence.

Liam lightly chuckled and lightly squeezed her hand. "I didn't like you when we met."

"To be fair, you didn't like anybody . . ." the redhead laughed.

He lightly laughed with her, but their chuckles died down to a quiet snort before Liam looked down at their hand and rubbed a circle on the back of her hand with his thumb. "I'm glad I met you though—"

"Don't say that . . ." she shook her head and looked at Liam from under her lashes. What he said only made it sound like he wanted to die and that he was saying farewell to her. Emily wanted to say that it wasn't goodbye, but then she would be a terrible liar if she said that. She WISHED she could be hopeful and come out alive with him, but only God knew that would never happen.

And she hated God for allowing it to happen . . .

Liam gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and pet her head once and said: "It's okay to cry . . ."

Emily merely stared at him with a look of question in her eyes. He knew more than anybody else that she hardly ever cried in front of people unless it was people she trusted. Even if she did cry she tried to brush it off as having dust in her eyes and wipe it away hoping no one else saw the tears. With Harmony and Cece, they just witnessed her cry for the first time in front of them when they said their goodbyes to her.

Liam was the only person she felt slightly more comfortable being vulnerable in front of . . .

She pursed her lips and looked away from him and dabbed the escaped tears away, refusing to show her moment of weakness. Liam gently pulled her to him and collected her in his arms, her tiny body fitting perfectly to his as he held her to him and allowing Emily to lose it. She took in deep breaths, sobbing against his chest and clenching his shirt in her fist as she cried against him.

She was scared . . . for her life . . . for Liam's . . .

Emily couldn't even imagine losing Liam and yet she had a feeling in her gut she would and join him soon after . . . They were each other's everything. Their best friend, their shoulder to cry on, their support, their rock and anchor . . .

Liam laid his on top of hers as Emily began to calm down, running his fingers through her hair as Emily turned away from him and leaned her back against his chest. Their legs tangled around each others' and intertwined their fingers with ease and comfort. Everyone always questioned if they were romantically involved and they always laughed it off and answered that they were just really close friends. Those ten years of friendship could do that . . .

Emily closed her eyes and took in steady breaths and fell asleep comfortably in Liam's hold.


	3. Chapter 3: Entering the Capitol

**CHAPTER 3: Entering the Capitol**

_"You seriously got lost getting home . . .?" Liam asked her._

Emily didn't answer him as they both walked to school. They lived close enough to their school, better to guide the redheaded girl to school since she had no idea where she was. She looked around to make herself familiar with the area just in case she would get lost again, knowing very well that her pursuers would come at her again sometime in the future. That part of the district that the Aldairs lived in looked so much more pleasant to live in . . . she couldn't help but be jealous of that family . . .

"You don't talk much . . ." Liam commented.

Emily only twiddled her fingers.

"Felt like exploring and didn't pay attention to where you were going?" he kept on going.

Still as silent as a newborn lamb.

The boy sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets to keep warm. She didn't feel like being cooperative and no reaction out of her was boring. Emily looked at the dark haired boy then back at the ground as they tread the cold concrete. She wanted to defend herself so he wouldn't think she was stupid, but he was mean and it wasn't like they were going to see each other in the future . . .

"Nothing looks familiar?"

The red headed girl shook her head. "I only know how to get home from work and school . . ."

"She SPEAKS!" he emphasized in an annoyed tone. Emily pursed her lips immediately and felt herself shrink. So mean . . . "We're almost there anyway. Say something when you recognize something or when we get close to the factory." She nodded. "Bet your parents will be mad you didn't come home," he teased.

It was official. He was yet another bully in her life. "No . . . they won't care . . ."

"Why not?"

Emily lazily shrugged. "They just won't . . ." she muttered.

Liam glanced at the six-year-old curiously and stared for a couple seconds and looked away. Weird . . .

The redhead and the dark haired boy walked around the next corner and Emily immediately recognized where they were. "Oh, yeah, I know where I am now. Thank you," she nodded to Liam and quickened her pace toward home.

"Hold on, I should at least walk you all the way there," he called after her and quickened his pace to catch up. "Just in case you get lost again."

"That's okay," she shook her head. "You don't have to."

"No, I have to. My mom will know I didn't walk you home and she picks up on when I lie," Liam sighed.

Emily slumped her shoulders down and pursed her lips before they continued onward. She really wished he didn't have to come with her . . .

Liam followed her in silence until they reached the poorer part of their section of District 8. Emily lived in one of the rundown apartment buildings that was in dire need to be cleaned, it was hard for Liam to believe that the quiet girl beside him lived in a dump like that. The two of them went inside and climbed up three flights of stairs, Liam noticed that her pace slowed drastically the closer they went and then stopped in front of her door.

"You can go now . . ." she muttered and stayed frozen in place. "You know where I live . . . so . . . bye . . ."

Liam blinked at her and slowly turned away to leave. When he disappeared, Emily looked back at the door and turned the knob, but it was locked. Her heart stopped for a moment and her whole body went cold as she pulled away and readied herself. She raised her trembled hand and knocked on the door and waited for the storm to come. There came the heavy footsteps behind the door . . . Three . . . Two . . . One—

The door opened. There stood her finely haired father glaring down at her. "Where have you been?" he demanded in question.

"I—I—I—" the little girl stuttered, keeping the tears in that threatened to spill down her chubby baby cheeks. "I—I—I'm sorry—I—"

**SLAP!**

Emily's cheek stung and burned, the large red handprint taking up half of her small face. The little girl didn't dare allow her cry in pain to come out, but only let out whimpers and tenderly touched her face. "Quit you babbling, you'll make a scene," he growled angrily and grabbed her wrist in a tight death grip before yanking her inside so hard he could have pulled her arm from the socket.

Her head fell back from the pull and caught sight of Liam looking toward her and her father before the door slammed shut. 

"Time to get up," Liam whispered soothingly in her ear.

"Ten more minutes . . ." Emily muttered sleepily and nuzzled her head onto his chest.

"We should be going out to eat. And I recall you didn't eat anything yesterday," he reminded her. Emily always snuck away to Liam's home and had breakfast with him and his brothers, especially on reaping day. In fact, most of the time she had slept over with them and was hardly ever in Harmony and Cece's shared apartment. It was better to assume she lived with the Aldairs with her being close to the family.

"You know I don't eat breakfast . . ." she answered. "I get sick the rest of the day."

"I meant you didn't eat at all yesterday . . ." Liam rolled his eyes.

Emily didn't answer him for a couple of seconds before she gave an exasperated sigh. "It wasn't exactly the best day to eat . . ." She then sat up and gave him a grim look. "Do I get a pass?"

"No," the man answered without hesitation and chuckled lightly. "Come on," he smiled and nudged her to the door. Emily groaned playfully as he kept pushing her until she finally got out of bed.

"Now get out, I have to change," she nodded.

"I practically live with you."

"Get out!"

Liam chuckled and walked out the door, sliding it closed behind him and Emily quickly changed out of her reaping dress into something else in the drawers. Thank goodness the Capitol thought of loading their cars with new clothing for the tributes to wear and completely throw away their reaping outfit, not like they would need it again whether or not they come back alive.

Emily changed into something yellow; something soft colored and comfortable and clean. She came out of her room as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and entered the dining car where Thorburn and Phox ate at the table. Phox, the Eight mentor, looked up from his plate and immediately noticed Emily's red hair. "Well look who crawled out of their hole," he commented.

"Sorry . . ." Emily muttered and pursed her lips while she timidly took a seat. Emily felt embarrassed that her escort and mentor haven't seen her since the reaping; she should have stayed in her room until they got to the Capitol.

"Had any time to think about what you were going to do to get sponsors while you were in your room?" Phox asked. Phox had won the 55th Hunger Games by strangling the last tribute with thread that he made by hand.

The car door opened and Liam came in in a clean linen shirt and pants. Emily glanced up his way and then back at Phox. "No . . . not yet . . ." she answered while Liam sat beside her.

Phox leaned back in his seat and observed Emily while she and Liam filled their plate with food and began eating. Liam stabbed his fork into a sausage on Emily's plate and took a large bite of it, Emily glared at him and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. Phox blinked at the two and furrowed his brows at the sight of the two. Liam chuckled at Emily and added one of his pancakes onto Emily's plate to trade for stealing from her plate.

"Are you together romantically?" Phox asked.

"Ew, no," Emily chuckled and raised a brow at their mentor and bit into a piece of bacon. "We're just friends."

"Friends don't act like that," Phox said grimly.

"We've known each other since we were kids," Liam shrugged casually.

"I think it's adorable," Thorburn smiled at the two.

Phox suggested, "We could always play the lovebird card for the Capitol to eat up—"

"No," Liam interrupted him. "Besides, we don't act like a couple. The Capitol aren't THAT stupid to believe the act, are they?"

"Oh no, trust me. They're idiots—"

"Hey!" Thorburn said shrilly.

"No offense, Thorburn," Phox rolled his eyes. "It was a suggestion. We'll think of something to get people to want to throw their money at you two."

Emily kept on eating and glanced up to Liam, giving him a silent thank you for declining the "suggestion" to use their relationship as an idea to make them popular. It wasn't that she didn't want any sponsors; she just wanted to get some without being used as a prop. The whole car went dark and Emily stopped to look out the window. Light broke through and she was able to see again. Her green eyes caught sight of the Capitol, all clean and shiny surrounded by the mountains. Oh god, they were there already.

Suddenly Emily couldn't eat another bite and put her fork down on her plate and wiped her greasy lips on her napkin. Liam's large hand slid into hers under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His hand felt cold and it trembled with her already shaky hand.

He tried to act brave too, glad it wasn't just her . . .


	4. Chapter 4: Tribute Parade!

**CHAPTER 4: Tribute Parade**

Her team pulled the strip of cloth off her legs and she tried to hold her cry in pain back. Honestly? They HAD to wax her legs? And while they waxed her legs, another member of her team was washing the dye from her hair. Winnow, her stylist, absolutely loved her red hair and wanted to make it redder so she appeared radiant.

In her opinion, that just made her easier to notice in the arena. She was already a walking target as it was with her old red hair and pale skin. Making crimson red wasn't going to help at all . . .

_Pluck!_

"Ow!" she hissed.

"Sorry, deary. You have some red and blonde hairs all over your body, we have to make you all clean and hairless," the one plucking her eyebrows apologized.

Emily sighed and nodded. She knew she had hair everywhere; it wasn't exactly a problem to have hairy legs, even if most of them were too fair to see on her already pale skin. The reds were really the only ones people could see if they were close enough. But NOPE. She had to be all clean and shiny for the Capitol to praise, like she was supposed to be a groomed poodle or something.

The rest of her team scrubbed and cleaned her, her newly dyed fire red hair dry and pulled up when it was dry, and her hands rubbed to take away all of the scars from pricking her finger in her years of sewing dresses by hand. They sent her into District Eight's dressing space where it was well lit, a rack of possible costumes for both Emily and Liam, and two different changing rooms to slip behind.

Liam was already there, his hair was cut and up in a controlled yet wild look to it. Surprisingly, it didn't look ridiculous on him. In fact, it seemed to compliment his features. He was covered in a robe like her, so it indicated his stylist hadn't come to see him either. Liam looked in Emily's direction and immediately got back on his feet, another habit of his that he had picked up when they became closer friends as a respectful greeting.

"Your hair . . ."

"Oh . . . yeah," she stared at pat her head. It was all up in, what felt like, layers upon layers of a bun with long colorful needles that didn't clash with her hair sticking out around her head and beads of the same colors at the end of them. Some curls of her hair had escaped from the bun, bouncing in place whenever she moved and brushed against her neck and jawline. "They thought it would be nice to make me a walking target," Emily joked.

Liam chuckled and looked down at his feet with a smile before he looked back up at her. "It suits you."

"You think so?" she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Yeah," he nodded and stared at the vibrancy of it in the light. He then dropped his blue eyes back on her green eyes, "It actually makes your eyes pop out," Liam added and squinted his eyes. "Geez . . . now they're really noticeable. I don't know which is worst to look at."

Emily playfully scoffed and smacked his arms. Liam played back and swat her a couple times and Emily mock fought him and lightly kicked the side of his leg. If it weren't for him being there with her, she would have been a wreck. Emily felt that it was a natural ability of his to help her forget the bad things.

But even those moments come back when the fun stops . . .

They heard the door open and they stopped playing around, trying to control their giggles and nudged each other to remind each other to stop laughing, but that only made them chuckle louder. "I see you two aren't that nervous," one of them commented.

One of them was a man, tall and his eyes sharp and shockingly purple. And just like his eyes, his lips shared the same shade of purple. But everything else about him was black with a sliver of a purple vinery upon his suit. His hair was the only solid black on him. The other one was a woman; she had softer features compared to her coworker. She was slightly taller than Emily, her lips and hair a light blue that complimented her dark skin and matched her light blue eyes. She had a tattoo of the same blue color as her hair at the corner of her left eye and down her neck, ending god knows where.

"Oh my GOODNESS, your hair is BEAUTIFUL!" the woman complimented and came closer to Emily to exam her team's work. "Oh—I'm so glad the color turned out as well as I had hoped. No! It's better," she squealed and faced Emily. Emily's eyes were wide as she watched the woman in amazement at how enthusiastic she was of her mere appearance. "Oh no, you're gorgeous too!" she added and lightly touched her hands against Emily's cheeks and gently turned her face left and right to look at the work done on her as well as her features.

Liam chuckled beside Emily while her stylist examined her with passionate interest. "You should tell her that more often, she won't believe you."

"But she IS!" she gasped and let go of Emily's cheeks. "I'm Winnow," she greeted.

"Nice to meet you," Emily nodded.

"Winnow, looking at them now which design should they where?" the other one, who's name Emily didn't catch, started without even much of a hello or acknowledgment toward Liam.

The tributes looked behind them toward the wrack of costumes and back at each other. One of those two outfits they would have to go out in public in and they weren't too pleased by the idea of it. Emily furrowed her brows at Liam got on her toes for a better look of what she thought she saw. "Are you wearing makeup?" she asked.

"Shut up . . ." he muttered in embarrassment and looked away from her. Emily chuckled while she took a seat at one of the sofas while the stylists discussed what their tributes would wear.

*****

It took some time, but they finally decided on their costume. They decided on a purple attire with spools as their District Eight inspiration. Their outfits looked like from the old Victorian age, their hats decorated like spools with black and mostly purple thread wrapped around them. Emily's dress bunched up in the back and she wore, what appeared to look like, a spool corset to make her waist so much smaller. As a part of the "theme" of their costumes. Liam's top hat appeared like a spool as well, his vest a shining silver vest with a long sleeve black shirt, sparkling in different parts of his shirt to the littlest movement.

When Emily came closer to Liam, she realized his vest was solely made of sewing needles. "Oh my god, you're not getting pricked are you?" she asked.

"Funny thing, I asked him the same thing," Liam added. "No, thank god. It would be too early for there to be any blood."

Emily pursed her lips and took in a deep breath, but the stupid spool corset only cut her deep breathing exercise and made it small and shallow. The redhead exhaled a breath and tried to hunch over, again, the stupid thing wouldn't even allow her to bend over. "Great designs, terrible to wear though," she shook her head.

Liam lightly smiled and snaked his fingers around hers, holding her hand tightly. "Besides breathing and moving being a chore . . . how are you?"

"Nervous . . ." she sighed. No way she could lie about that. "My worst fear right now is passing out while we're being pulled down the road."

The man chuckled. "You'll be fine."

"Easier for you to say," she rolled her eyes at him. "You're capable of breathing. Besides, you look stunning. Your girlfriend will LOVE seeing you in it."

Liam pursed his lips and kept himself from running his hand through his hair and knocking the hat off his head. "Yeah . . . she won't watch . . ."

"Of course she will."

"No . . ." he shook his head and let go of her hand. "We actually . . . broke up . . ."

"What? Why?"

"Well . . . besides the Hunger Games being the reason . . ." he stopped and looked up, pretending to think of what other reason there was to his decision and then shook his head. "Nope, that's about it," he shrugged. Emily was about to argue but he lifted his hand at her. "I can't promise her that I'll come back alive. I don't even know if I will . . . I don't want to make promises that I might not be able to keep, you know that . . ."

Emily sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Doesn't mean she won't be watching . . ."

Liam rolled his eyes at her and shoved his hands in his pockets, completely forgetting the silver pocket watch in one of them for decorative reasons. "It's fine, lamb. We've been growing apart lately anyway . . ." the man added when the announcement to ready themselves for the parade echoed throughout the room.

Growing apart? How come? Emily wanted to ask but she was frozen in the spot from hearing the announcement.

"Come on, Em," Liam snapped his fingers at her and offered his hand to help her in the chariot. Emily slid her hand into his and pulled herself up with Liam's help into the chariot and he followed afterward. "You'll be fine."

The redhead couldn't bring herself to talk, instead she responded with a shaky nod. Liam took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her heart rate slowed down a little and she was able to breathe in more air that the corset allowed when the large doors opened and the cheers of the Capitolites reached her ears.

Exhale a breath . . .

One by one, the chariots in front of them moved and that only meant that it was getting closer to their turn to go out and impress the Capitol and the rest of Panem on live television. Emily's hand squeezed around Liam's and he did just the same seconds before they began to move.

Just smile and wave, just pretend you're enjoying yourself . . .

Once she could see colorful Capitolites, Emily knew the cameras were on her and Liam. She plastered on a smile and waved to the plastics, even though internally she was screaming with fear. Down the avenue they went and not once did they let go of each other's hand, Emily felt that if she let go she'd black out again and make a fool of herself. Liam was her support to stand on her own two feet, and even though it made her feel like dying for admitting it to herself, she was glad he was there to keep her together . . .

Emily allowed herself a quick glance to Liam. It was no secret that he greatly disliked the Capitol and its insane colorful people, yet he had the most convincing smile she had ever seen on him despite the circumstance. It still appeared strained and forced to her, enough for her to draw a circle on the back of his hand with her thumb. Liam looked down at her and Emily's lips curled into a gentle and reassuring smile, signaling him that he was doing well.

His face relaxed and reflected the same smile as hers and looked away back to the passing Capitolites, his smile far more natural than earlier so Emily turned to her side and did just the same as her friend.

Once they reached the roundabout, Emily and Liam dropped their arm from waving, but their "fresh and elegant" smiles remained on their face. Once President Snow was within sight of her vision, her body became stiff with fear once more. The old man with snow-white hair and the eyes of a sadistic murderer . . . the man with total control over Panem . . .

The man watched his "puppets" ring around the roundabout until District 12 finally joined the rest of the chariots and they all came to a stop when they faced the president. He droned on the same old speech he had recited before in past Games to remind how thankful he was for the districts to join together for the yearly tradition and wish them all the best of luck for their week.

The lot of them were finally released and gathered inside the Training Center where their escorts, stylists, and mentors awaited them. Liam hopped off the chariot first, gently took Emily by the waist and helped her down. "You two did great," Thorburn smiled as he came closer to the tributes.

"Thanks," Liam nodded and slid his hands away from Emily and shoved his hands in his pocket.

Emily leaned back against the chariot, feeling light headed from the inability to breathe the proper amount of air. "Can we get out of these costumes . . .?" she sighed. "I'm feeling dizzy . . ."

Liam looked back at Emily's slumped body and pulled her back up when she near fell to the ground. "Sorry deary, I must have tied it too tight," Winnow apologized.

"It's not your fault . . ."

The rest of them walked toward the elevator and waited for its arrival as Winnow loosened Emily's corset before the elevator doors opened.


	5. Chapter 5:Friend

**CHAPTER 5: Friend**

_Emily leaned against the school building picking at the crust of her sandwich during lunch time. The other kids played around the metal apparatus, swinging on the old swings that cried and squealed for every back and forth motion, and playing tag with one another. The redheaded girl rolled up a bit of crust in a small ball and tossed them a couple feet in front of her, hoping for some birds to land in front of her and peck the bread ball._

She noticed a pair of feet walk her way but she didn't dare to look up, just ignore them and they'll get bored of her silence and walk away, then bother her at work in a couple hours. The small feet stopped a couple feet in front of her and lightly kicked the small bread balls back to her.

"Your dad looked like he cared where you were . . ." the voice said.

The little girl looked up and saw Liam stand before her; she immediately dropped her eyes back down to her sandwich and picked at the rest of her crusts uncomfortably.

"More silence, huh . . .?" Liam sighed.

No answer.

She heard a sucking nose come from the eight-year-old boy before he sat a couple feet beside her. "Was that why you didn't want me to go with you . . .?"

Emily blinked once, her green eyes still on her lunch when she barely nodded as a reply.

"Okay . . ." he muttered and went quiet again. Emily pulled her legs up to her chest and lightly pulled at the sleeve of her jacket down. "You always wear clothes with long sleeves and long pants . . ." he commented. Emily could see in the corner of her eye that the blue-eyed boy studied her. "And that bandage on your face . . . did he hurt you that bad . . .?"

Emily nodded. The man's strike had left a dark bruise against her already sickly pale skin and only a large Band-Aid could cover it. "Can we . . . not talk about it . . .?" she asked timidly.

She could see he wanted to ask more questions, but she said something and he was sure she wouldn't talk again for another long while. Liam let out a sigh and leaned his head back against the brick wall. "How come you haven't told anyone?" he asked. So much for not talking about it.

With a sigh, she hugged her legs and rest her chin on her knees. "Because . . ."

"Because what . . .?"

"Just because . . ." She couldn't tell him. She didn't know the boy nor did she even trust him to share something as personal.

"Don't you have any friends to run away to?" the boy asked.

Emily let out a sigh and hugged her knees tightly. No . . . no friends. She didn't understand why when everyone else made friends with ease. "Don't you think I would be playing with them if I had any . . .?" she muttered.

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. No friends to receive any comfort, her father wasn't worth the time to even think twice of, her mother had yet to be mentioned . . . the redheaded girl honestly had no one to trust and no one to run to when she was troubled . . .

"How am I different compared to others . . .?" Liam asked.

She didn't know how to answer his question. Besides him pushing his questions and showing no signs of backing down, how was he able to get answers out of her when others couldn't? What was it about him that made him special . . .?

How was he able to faze through her walls without much of a fight?

"I don't know . . ." Emily answered.

The redhead took in deep breaths when the corset finally came off and Liam held onto her so she didn't fall to the floor. The elevator doors opened and the young man helped her to the floor. District 8's floor was large and colorful, lots of textile designs upon the furniture. The rest of the place was heavily Capitol décor, but Emily didn't bother to stare at her new "home" while she was so lightheaded. Phox ordered one of the Avox to get a glass of water while Liam helped her to the couch of the living space.

"Feeling a little better?" he asked.

"I'm getting there . . ." she sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I think I need to eat."

"Wait . . ." Liam leaned away and stared at Emily with furrowed brows. "Who are you and what have you done to Emily?"

"Stop," she rolled her eyes at him and nudged him. Liam lightly chuckled and nudged her back. "You did great," he complimented as he unbuttoned his needle vest and then uncuffed his sleeves.

"What happened to the promised killing spree during the parade?" she teased.

"Well . . . you were there, so I couldn't really do it . . ."

"You're saying I'm your leash?"

"You've BEEN my leash since I admitted you were my friend," Liam laughed.

"Wooooooooow, you're a little whipped."

"Shut up," he rolled his eyes.

"Food is ready, children," Thorburn announced. "Get out of your costumes, get comfortable, and eat something."

"Fiiiiiiiiiine," the two sighed in unison and got up. Thorburn stared at the two in total awe at how in sync they were, they were practically one person to his eyes. And at the same time, it was heartbreaking knowing that only one of them may or may not come back . . .

_Liam bothered with Emily for about a month since they met, always asking questions and getting answers from time to time. What Emily noticed was that the more he talked to her the more she opened up to him and answered his questions. She still tried to avoid talking about her life at home, but she talked more about other things._

Like: what her favorite color was, her fears, her likes, her dislikes, and so on and so forth.

At the one-month mark, she wasn't even sure if it was trust she felt for the boy. She wasn't sure WHAT trust felt like. Not only that, but Emily realized that Liam's attitude toward her began to soften more and more, his questions didn't sound annoyed nor did it sound forced. It felt like he had general interest in her.

Then they heard kissing noises. The two furrowed their brows at stared ahead at two of the boys that often picked on Emily. Liam noticed, immediately, that Emily shrunk in her spot. "Ginger likes Liam! Ginger likes Liam!" one of them mocked and her cheeks glowed as red as her hair.

"Ew, who would like a girl with a big nose and fugly teeth," the other laughed.

Liam then shot up on his feet and stormed toward the boys. Emily quickly looked up when she heard someone take a hit and found Liam had thrown a punch first. The second boy fought Liam while the other writhed in pain from getting his teeth, literally, knocked out of him and Emily pulled herself up on her feet.

"The HELL is your problem with her!?" Liam snarled at the boys. "What did she ever do to you!?" he screamed and kicked the boy that was still down.

"Liam! Stop!" Emily cried and pulled at his arm.

"If you have a problem with my friend you come to me!" he kept yelling.

Friend . . .

He was then knocked down by the other boy and Emily backed away and ran off to go get a teacher to break up the fight. She could at least do that for him, as a friend.


End file.
